Stock Market & Financial Investment News

USW to expand ULP oil strikeThe United Steelworkers, USW, announced that it will expand its unfair labor practice strike, ULP, by launching a work stoppage tonight at midnight at the Motiva Enterprises refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. This refinery, a 50-50 joint venture between Shell Oil Company and Saudi Refining, produces more than 600,000 barrels per day. In addition, 24 hour strike notices were delivered at Motiva’s two Louisiana refineries in Convent and Norco as well as at the Shell Chemical plant in Norco. Capacity at these facilities is 235,000 and 238,000. These refineries are also jointly operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Refining, Inc. of Saudi Arabia. “The industry’s refusal to meaningfully address safety issues through good faith bargaining gave us no other option but to expand our work stoppage,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. Publicly traded companies in the space include BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and Total (TOT). Reference Link

Ally CEO exploring subprime lending, sees loss of GM business, Detroit News saysAlly (ALLY) CEO Jeffrey Brown stated in a Thursday interview with The Detroit News that the company may return to offering credit cards and home mortgages, and currently plans to expand auto lending to subprime customers. The CEO said he expects to decide within 30-60 days whether Ally will consolidate its five locations to a single headquarters in the Detroit suburbs. Brown added that he expects GM (GM) to shift its $4.1B subsidized leasing program for Chevrolet from Ally to GM Financial, which the Ally CEO wants to offset by increasing subprime lending from 9% of total lending to 12%-15%. Reference Link

U.S. judge rejects BP request for lower fine per barrel, Reuters saysU.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has rejected BP's request for a maximum fine of $3,000 per barrel, upholding the maximum penalty of $4,300 per barrel, reports Reuters. The decision means the total fine for BP could reach $13.7B, though it is still unclear when a final decision will be reached. BP spokesman Geoff Morrell stated the company is considering its legal options. Reference Link

Apple pushing for 2020 production of its electric car, Bloomberg saysApple (AAPL) is pushing to begin production of its electric vehicle as soon as 2020, reports Bloomberg, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Bloomberg notes that the move could put Apple into direct competition with Tesla (TSLA) and General Motors (GM), both of which are targeting a 2017 release for next-generation electric vehicles. Apple may still cancel the project if it becomes unhappy with progress, the sources said, though its vehicle team is already 200-people strong. Reference Link

General Motors names Craig Glidden as new general counselGeneral Motors (GM) announced yesterday that Craig B. Glidden has been appointed executive VP and general counsel, effective March 1. Glidden will lead a team of staff attorneys who are integrated into all of GM’s regional and functional teams in more than 30 countries. Glidden succeeds Michael Millikin, who is retiring in July after a nearly four-decade legal career, including five years as GM’s general counsel. Before joining GM, Glidden was executive VP and chief legal officer for LyondellBasell Industries (LYB).

Car sales rose in Europe last month, NY Times saysEuropean car sales increased 6.7% in January, versus the same period a year earlier, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association indicates, according to The New York Times. January was the 17th straight month that European car sales have increased, but they remain well below the levels they reached before the financial crisis, the newspaper stated. Publicly traded companies in the space include Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Fiat S.p.A. (FIATY), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY). Reference Link